Obama on Malia's college move-in day: 'I was basically useless'

Former President Barack Obama opened up about taking his daughter Malia to college last year, telling host David Letterman he was "basically useless" during the entire move-in process.

Friday, January 12th 2018, 5:36 AM EST

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former President Barack Obama opened up about taking his daughter Malia to college last year, telling host David Letterman he was "basically useless" during the entire move-in process.

"Michelle, she had like a cleaning glove, one of those yellow ones, she's scouring the bathroom," Obama told Letterman in the first episode of his new Netflix series, "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction." "Sasha ... was helping make the bed and fold clothes ... and I was basically useless."

Malia started her undergraduate career at Harvard University last year, after a taking a gap year following her high school graduation. The former President and first lady were spotted helping her move into her dorm at the end of August 2017.

Obama went on to describe that his only task, delegated to him by his daughters, was to set up a desk lamp -- and even that proved to be difficult for the emotional father.

"It should have taken like five minutes or three minutes," he joked. "It had one of those wrenches ... and it only had like four parts or something. I'm sitting there just toiling away at this thing, it's taking half an hour. Meanwhile, Michelle's finished scrubbing and she's organizing closets. I was pretty pathetic."

Still, he said he held it together until he and the former first lady were driving away from campus.

"What's changed I think from when we were kids is technology," Obama told Letterman. "So I get home and she (Malia) knows I'm pathetic, so she's texted me hearts, and, you know, so we are talking on a regular basis. When we were kids, you had to go down to the end of the hall of the dorm (to make a call)."

Obama likened the entire move-in experience to "open-heart surgery," as he previously said in an interview with WDEL radio.

Letterman's interview with Obama, which was about an hour long, debuts on Netflix Friday. Other scheduled guests on Letterman's show include George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Jay-Z, Tina Fey and Howard Stern.